Free Fall
by Kemeyeoz
Summary: "It's all my fault" tears filled her eyes as she gazed down at his bloodied and worn form. It was because her that he was in this state. She had been too weak to prevent this and now he was barely breathing. Glancing one last time at his still figure, she swore to bring death to those who threatened their existence. SasuHina
1. Sasuke, Skull

**Free Fall:**

AN:Hiya everybodeyyyyy~ :D

If any of you has seen my other stories, you would know that they have been discontinued due to some personal reasons and such. Fear not, to refrain such things from happening again, all my stories will be no longer than 10 chapters :D Oh but of course, each chapter will be much longer than usual of course. So enough of my rantings, I bring you FREE FALL.

I hope you Enjoy! I do not own Naruto nor any of it's wonderful (or irritating) characters.

* * *

_Two years ago..._

Cheers and roars of utter delight were released from the individuals that had just been given reasons to celebrate, Chuunin that had now advanced to jonin level. While some jumped in glee and others gave out generous amounts of hugs, a certain female was contented with a small smile of her own. Her eyes glimmered at the thought of making her father proud, finally. At the fine age of 16 (made this shit up), Hinata has finally proven herself a capable enough shinobi and was at last able to meet her otou-sama's high expectations of a heiress. She almost shrieked in happiness as the giddiness came upon her, her mood at the peak of it's meter.

For the past few months before the exams, she had constantly tested her strength, pushing her limbs and chakra to it's limits. Each day with a minimum training of ten hours before she let herself fall limp to the ground. 'Hard work does pay off after all' the curve of her lips growing slightly wider.

"Congratulations Hinata! I see your efforts has not gone to waste" a familiar voice resounded from behind her as a gentle hand was placed upon her shoulder. She turned to come face-to-face with the Hokage herself. Tsunade watched as the young female brunette don a slight pink hue on her cheeks before bowing deeply, making a delicate brow raise on the Godaime's forehead 'always the overly polite one' she sighed to herself. Slowly rising up from her position, Hinata squeaked a soft greeting before answering the elder "Yes Hokage-sama, I thank you for your help. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't been able to get through" Hinata rushed before going for another bow to show her appreciation.

'Also always the humble one' Tsunade sighed out loud this time "Hinata, all I did was give you a few tips and useful routines on chakra control, it's all your own efforts in the end" as she gave a pat on Hinata's head, a rare affectionate gesture on her part "You did well kid, you deserve it" and smiled kindly.

Hinata's heart swelled at the praise of the Hokage. Remembering that she had to break the important news to her family, she thanked Tsunade again before politely excusing herself. 'Darn Hiashi' Tsunade watched the disappearing figure of the kind-hearted girl and frowned at the thought of the Hyuuga clan's head who had a stick up his ass 'he'd better appreciate all that she's done for him', she shook her head warily before making her way to a bar across the street.

Hinata was skipping her way back to the Hyuuga compound, humming a cheery song along as she watched the sceneries that seemed ever-so beautiful today. As each step led her closer to her home, her happiness intensified, imagining as she finally gained her father's love and recognition. Passing the wide looming gates of the Hyuuga compound, she was just about to open the door to the main house when one of the branch members approached her "Hinata-sama, Hyuuga-sama has asked for your presence immediately in the third quarter's conference room".

'Conference room? That's strange..usually it's only in the study room..' the previous joyful feelings immediately suffocated and self-buried as nervousness filled her system. Shaking her head to clear any dreadful thoughts away, she clenched her fists tightly in resoluteness before heading towards the conference room 'no I'm just thinking too much'

Upon arriving before the closed door, she knocked gently before announcing her arrival and waited for permission to enter. "Enter" the cold clipped tone of her father erupted, causing a shiver down her spine. Carefully sliding the door open before closing it after her, she bowed respectfully to her father and the elders, before taking a seat on the tatami mat on the floor beside her sister.

"As we have said before Hiashi-sama, it's beneficial to the clan. The change is inevitable and the difference is strength is too obvious to ignore. Consider this as a form of saving grace for you and the clan. Surely you wouldn't want someone as weak as her to lead this great clan?" as the elder man pointed an accusing finger towards Hinata. Her breath hitched as the words finally sunk in 'they want to replace me? They are taking my position away from me?..but..'.

Hiashi spared a wary glance at Hinata, the emotions she felt were clearly displayed on her paling face. After the death of Hanako(Hinata's mother's name wasn't stated), Hiashi could barely stay in the stay in the same room as his elder daughter, Hinata was almost an exact replica of his deceased wife. It pained him each time as he was reminded of the painful departure of his beloved wife, seeing as how Hinata's gentle demeanor and kind character were similar to Hanako's. Not daring to allow such things to happen to his daughter, he swore to make her stronger so she could defend herself. Stronger yes she had become, but it seemed that her improvements were not enough for the elders.

"No, this is improper, Hinata is the rightful heiress, you can not just take it away from her. What will the others think?" Hiashi nearly growled but held back his temper. Hinata's eyes widened in surprise when her father had defended her. Sure he had been treating her better after she had made chuunin but that was all, he still made harsh remarks when she made mistakes in sparring.

"What others think of her is nothing of proper now I can assure you. She is not strong enough to head the clan and it's members. In order to lead the clan, the leader must be the strongest of all, he or she must have the respect of all members. Your younger daughter has shown to be a much more suitable person to take the title" the elders eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the obvious anger that lit up in Hiashi's eyes.

As Hiashi was about to retort and refuse, another of the elder spoke up "If you persist on having this girl as your successor, then the younger one shall be marked with the curse seal and -"

"NO!" Hinata shouted out 'Hanabi must not get the seal..she has the potential and I will not allow her to feel caged' her thoughts flew to Neji immediately "Y-You can't do that! Woman from the main house are n-not supposed to be sealed off!" her voice in distress as she turned her head to face her sister. For the first time in her life, she had seen her baby sister so frightened. Gripping Hanabi's small hand in her warm one, she squeezed lightly, hoping the gesture would bring some comfort to her little sister.

Barely reacting to Hinata's sudden outburst, the elder scoffed "oh? then what do you suppose we do? Surely when you have the audacity to so rudely interrupt, you have a much better solution to this?". Hinata knew what they were aiming for, though she wasn't a born genius like Neji nor had the high level of intelligence of Shikamaru, she had easily picked up what they were asking from her. Using Hanabi as bait was a cheap blow.

Lowering her head to cover her anger "If you wish... I shall give up my place as the heiress..just..just leave Hanabi alone.." her eyes teared at the thought of her baby sister being controlled and under the immense torture of an activated seal.

Hiashi's body went rigid as he heard Hinata's words. As the personal trainer of Hanabi, he could admit that his younger daughter was a force to reckoned with, but with time after much observations of both his daughters sparrings, he understood that Hinata was not to be underestimated. He had looked closely that particular day as Hinata and Hanabi were sparring, focusing his sights on Hinata instead of Hanabi and trying to figure out where he went wrong with Hinata when he saw it. Through each seemingly sluggish movement of hers was actually a well thought out action. Hinata wasn't as weak as she seemed, he realized.. she was in fact holding back, careful not to get her little sister hurt.

His eyes darting between his two daughters, "Hinata, think carefully of your words before you speak. This is not a simple matter.. are you sure you want to give your title to Hanabi?" he stressed his words on her, hoping to make her understand what she was giving up on. Hanabi clearly shocked by her sister's answer was shaking her head wildly "N-no nee-san, I can take the seal, you don't have to do this". Hinata smiled at her sister's bravery, even though she must feel terrified at the moment.

There was a silence before she spoke, her voice no louder than a whisper but her words sunk heavily on her shoulders "Yes I am sure".

* * *

Stopping near the boundaries of Suna, was the few survivors of team Taka, having set up a camp in the forest. The two wanderers had been traveling aimlessly for the past few months, with no absolute destination or goals to achieve, days passed by ever so slowly. "Ahhhh, I'm so bored. When can we find a nice place to stay?" Suigetsu whined for what seemed like the millionth time today "I still don't get it, I mean..we helped save the world right? So aren't we supposed to be heroes or something?" he said as he daydream-ed of the soft fluffy pillows and royal beds.

"Don't be stupid Suigetsu, we were once accomplices of Oorochimaru and Akatsuki, you think they'd throw a damn party for us?" the raven haired boy finally replied, not able to stand it after hours and hours of his companion's insufferable complaining. He roughly snapped a fallen branch into two before tossing it into the campfire. Suigetsu sulked at how his team mate was so damn 'talkative' and started grumbling, muttering incoherent words under his breath.

There was a long period of silence before Sasuke abruptly go up from his seat and unsheathed his katana (is that what it's called?), Suigetsu immediately stood in his stance, preparing himself for any attacks. "Come out! I know you're there!" Sasuke growled out, a Chidori sparking at his clenched fist. Not a second more after he spoke, they were surrounded by five Anbu Black Ops (Wolf, Monkey Lion, Otter and Bear) encircled like preys to predators. Both of them back to back tensed when one (wolf) who seemingly was in command, moved forward "Uchiha Sasuke and Hozuki Suigetsu, we have been ordered to bring you back to Konoha and will not resort to force unless necessary. It is wiser for you to come with us as accordingly"

Sasuke nearly guffawed at their words "go with you? You think I'm just going to let you take me back to tie and lock me up? I'm not stupid" he spat "besides, I doubt you can even bring me back" his coal black eyes glistened fiercely.

"So I see.. we have no choice but to resort to force then" and with a nod, three of the clad in black figures (Monkey, Lion and Otter) moved forward to confront Suigetsu and Sasuke. With a quick leap to the left, Sasuke dodged a speeding Kunai that almost imbedded into his chest. Quickly getting separated from Suigetsu, Sasuke moved to confront the two whom he was against. Grabbing his own Kunai from his pouch, he swiftly blocked off the incoming shurikens and made the hand signs "Katon: Gokakyu no Justu!" and let out a big ball of flame towards the Anbu. Not wasting time, he shot out a few kunai with explosive tags immediately after the fire ball. As the smoke cleared from the explosion, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, tomoe spinning wildly as he readied himself in case for attacks. Feeling a slightly shift of wind from his right, he quickly blocked with his katana as it slid back against the impact of the downward force. Digging his feet into the dirt, he pushed back against the Wolf.

Not taking any chances, the other two Anbu soon joined in to the fight, slowly tiring out the two by numbers. Sasuke by now with a few cuts here and there was obviously realizing their plans to tire them out and not wanting to waste any more time, decided to take measures "Suigetsu MOVE!" he shouted and made a few hand signs "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"and shot chakra filled flames in a full circle. With the distraction, he quickly made his next attack, black lines merging and splitting into an atomic orbit shape he muttered under his breath "Ametarasu" and watched as black flames devoured the trees and land. Two of the Anbu not being fast enough, got caught in the terrifying ink black flames, pain coursing through their body.

Sasuke watched as the others hurried the two, unsure as to how to aid in their dying comrades. Suddenly, there was a drastic drop in temperature and the Anbu seemingly in trance, moved a few steps back. The monstrous damaging flames that were once killing and burning down everything in it's path suddenly ceased to exist, instead was replaced by huge stabs of ice. Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight 'what?! that's impossible, no water or normal technique should be able to defuse the flames. Ice?!..' he could only remember one person whom used Ice Release and said person was already deceased.

Then for the first time, Sasuke noticed the new presence. Even though he was standing a mere said ten metres away from them, Sasuke could hardly detect the person's chakra in the air. With his back facing the supposed enemies, he gave a few signals of the hand and sent the four injured members away. Not liking that he was almost completely being ignored by the new addition, Sasuke spoke gruffly "What, so you're the leader eh? What type of coward are you, hiding behind your own team. Pathetic, and this is what Konoha has become?"

The one whom Sasuke at first thought to be the leader, Wolf, seemed to react against his claim, stepping forward only to stop his forwarding steps instantly with a raised hand of the new addition. Turning slowly, Sasuke's eyes widened unnoticeably when the pure white mask was revealed under the dim light of the moon. 'A skull? Doesn't all Anbu masks only consist of animals?'.

Now entirely facing him, Sasuke quickly assessed the person infront of him. Lifting a hand slowly before stopping with it straight stretched out infront of him, Skull stuck out his finger before bringing it back "come" it indicates, beckoning Sasuke. His temper getting the best of him and his patience wearing thin, he did as was asked of him. Starting with slow steps before turning to full strides, his Katana gripped tightly at a fourty-five degrees behind him, he charged towards the offending opponent. Bringing his katana down with a wide arc, his sword met with a loud cling of metal against metal. Slashing dangerous and wildly, Skull merely dodged gracefully and easily. Charging down his katana with electricity, he back a few steps before sending a big bolt of lighting towards Skull. The blue bolt of lightning headed in blinding speed and just before it hit it's target, a big wall of ice interceded it's attack and crumbled to the ground, diffusing the voltage efficiently.

Moving with speed that even his sharingan could hardly catch, Skull sped from one place to another, disappearing and reappearing behind him. With all the speed that he could manage, he swung his katana roughly to his back before it hit something 'got him!' Sasuke's one small moment of smugness was turned to anger when the figure poof-ed and disappeared. Before he could move or had the chance to counter, a weight landed on his katana's end. With the end beneath one foot, Skull twisted forward and brought the other foot down and broke the metal piece to half. Then, with a flash of movement, Skull's sword was below his neck, the tip driving in the slightest, a trickle of blood flowing down his collar bone.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes when he thought he heard the faintest sound of a chuckle before a sharp throb came to the back of his neck. Then slowly, his blurry world faded to black.

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Yupp, so that was the end of Chapter 1 :D I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Review Review Review aites?

If you're confused about something or if there was a mistake I made, please feel free to let me know.

Do so kindly of course, I'm not able to take too harsh of criticism :X Okie dokie till next time Sayonara!

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KemeYeoz,


	2. So We Meet

**Free Fall 2:**

**AN: **Wazzzzzup?!~ So the previous chapter didn't get much reception~

but I''m tracking ya see, hundreds of you guys read but only two people actually favorited/reviewed/followed T^T

That makes me saddddddd, nawr I'm just kidding ~

Do review and such though, it comforts me to know that my story is being appreciated :D

Okae, no more talking, let's roll~

Again, I do not own Naruto or any it's characters. Hehh.

* * *

Darkness, that was all that could be seen for as far as his sight could offer. One like himself could not help but to think of whether he was in a whole new level of hell. Afterall, while he was still alive, the emotions that whirled through his mind and heart was so strong that it eventually led to the irreversible paths of his life. Now it seemed that all he could feel was numbness. 'No, that wouldn't be right' he told himself, for feeling numb would actually meant that he felt some form of a feeling..but now.. now he felt nothing.

He briefly wondered if he should call out for help but then quickly disregarded it when he thought about how ridiculous it might seem if he were dead. Though dead and merely in his conscience (so he thought), his pride was definitely still full in tact. He wondered if he was going to being staying like this forever, and decided that living as nothing was worse than living as someone who constantly felt pain. Just as he was in his own musings, there a sudden sharp throb in the back of his head, 'Wait..pain in my head? That means I still have a body?'. To say he was confused would be an understatement.

Darkness soon dissolved as semi-transparent coloured swirls started swimming and floating about in the never-ending place of previous full-front black. Beneath him where there previously was absolutely nothing, sudden split as white filled through the cracks that had formed and just then..he fell. Wind gushing so strongly past him, he felt like it was whipping in his face, he felt his soul was currently being forcibly sucked out from his body. Not being able to stand such excruciating ordeal of nauseas state, he finally caved in "stop.. STOP IT! Please!". Then he felt the end coming near him and he understood that nothing could prepare him for the impact he was about to face. And he felt himself crash..**BAM**.

"Heart rate is increasing too quickly, something's wrong, secure the life line. Medic three get ready to call the head medic if there is anything wrong. You two, hold him down just in case of any violent reaction, I need one more to alert the Hokage immediately." and he felt another shock wave shooting through his body, pain flooding his veins.

"Uchiha, Uchiha-san can you hear me?. No no, his going into shock, someone call Haruno-san please" the charge said with a frantic note in her voice. There was scampering to be heard and the quick shuffling of footsteps getting further, the medics each dashing madly around in hopes of getting the needed medical attention. A young female voice broke through "Sakura I can't find Sakura-san We need assistance as soon as-" her words were cut off half way as the door slammed open.

"I couldn't find Sakura but we got lucky, please Hyuuga-sama could you please assist us?" another spoke. There was a sudden silence set upon the room before the medic understood her mistake "I- I meant to call you by your name, please accept my apology Hi-" she tried to amend.

"It's okay, quick report on the status of the patient" as she walked towards the twitching body of Sasuke.

"Patient has been recovering at a rapid rate until a few minutes ago. His heart rate is exceedingly fast and he seems to has gotten into a shock. If he doesn't stop, the stress might open up all the wounds that we have just closed up" another read out professionally. Nodding before her actions turned into a blur of moves, she activated her family kekkei genkai and scanned the chakra lines of his body. With much accurate precision, she pushed out her own chakra to the tip of her fingers before placing it somewhere on his neck. Frowning at seeing his still struggling figure, she decided that he needed to be calmed down before she could apply the necessary amount to a vital point. Bending down to near his level, she near-whispered "Sasuke, you need to calm down. Nothing is going to happen, you're going to be okay but I need you to relax..".

Almost immediately after she spoke, his body stopped moving altogether, his tense muscle relaxing little by little. "Good" she said in acknowledgement, nodding once to the medics before she continued with the process, slender fingers emitting a light lavender glow. After a few minutes of unclogging the chakra paths that had somehow managed to got disrupted, she was finally done. Turning around, she gave a nod and a pat to the medics shoulder before she swiftly left the room and headed for the Hokage tower.

..

At the Hokage Tower..

..

"You asked for me Lady Tsunade?" Hinata enquired as she closed the door behind her. The blond sitting at the desk looked up from the stack of paper work on her desk, taking a swig from her cup that was probably filled with sake "ah Hinata yes, I see that your mission was a success, I appreciate you having been there even with such short notice". Hinata only nodded and offered a small smile, so Tsunade took the chance to continue " as you have already known, our _dear_ Uchiha has already been retrieved and is recovering extremely well. The problem is Hinata, making sure he doesn't high-tail on us again, and that's where I need your help".

Hinata responded calmly "Do you need me to track his movements Tsunade-sama?". Tsunade chuckled at this "no no Hinata, I dont exactly need you to track him, just make sure he doesn't hurt anyone. You don't have to hide or anything, just keep an eye out for him until he recovers. Naruto and the rest of the the previous of Team seven will be around him too, so the job will be much easier for you. It seems that he needs some convincing before he finally decides to joins us back once and for all" then as she spoke her next words, the Godaime's face softened abit "he did help us alot during the war afterall. I hate to say this but.. we may owe him for the past". Through all that had happened; the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke's betrayal, Itachi's death... Sasuke had given up the hatred in his heart and gave aid to protect the village. Tsunade looked up at the young blue-haired female standing before her and sighed inwardly at how cruel fate was to some, 'she's been through quite a lot too' the Sannin thought to herself.

Folding her hands beneath her chin, she continued on "this will be your next mission Hinata, you can relax a bit more though, no need to trail him for 24 hours. It's been quite awhile since you've taken an off day, use this as a break if you can".

"Yes Tsunade-sama, as you wish, is there anything else?"

Tsunade rummaged through her mind ' Is there something I'm forgetting? It seems to be quite important.. what exactly is it?.. I must be getting - Oh of course, how could I forget?' she mentally berated herself "erm.. speaking of which, I actually do. Would you mind being a caretaker Hinata? If you remember, Sasuke's company" she grimaced at the thought of that odd Puddle boy( Suigetsu) "he is quite an uh.. special individual, so I'll need to be careful of him. He won't do much harm of course, unless on Sasuke's order it seems. This is a choice for you, you can choose whether or not to accept this other mission. Of course, seeing as how this won't be much of a vacation anymore, I'll be giving you a week's off afterwards. So.. how about it?". Tsunada kept her fingers crossed for this, she couldn't think of anyone else better for this job, Kakashi was currently on a mission in the Wave country while the others lacked the qualification and patience for Puddle Boy.

"Of course Tsunade-sama, though there wasn't actually a need for the bribe" Hinata said with a slightly teasing voice, a small smirk formed on her face.

"Oh damn, shouldn't have said that then. Anyways, you might want to threaten the little brat a bit, use your imagination for that. He's currently being held at the 4th ward, two doors left from Sasuke's. The little idiot has been harassing our female medics as it seems." Tsunade frowned at that. After briefing Hinata more about the details of her mission, she sent her out to collect her new 'prisoner'. Watching as the young female walked off to her next destination, the Sannin could not help but smile fondly.

.

.

Female medics who came out of room 204 were either all pink in the face from over blushing, or steaming red from irritation. Hinata sighed as she twisted the handle and pushed the door open, the bright light from the windows causing her to squint ever-so-slightly. Seeing a new-comer in his temporary room, the patient decided that a warm welcome was to follow "well hello beautiful, and who might you be? Are you going to be my new care-taker, because oh baby I would love for you to take care of me" he sent a cheesy pick up line her way.

Normally, (exceptions to the ones who got on his nerve) any lady who had even the looks that were of above average got his attention but boy was he about to keel over from the looks of his new visitor, he nearly.. nearly blushed when he saw her staring straight at him. Passive as ever, Hinata walked towards his bed and poured a glass of water from the beaker on the nightstand. "Hello Hozuki-san it seems that you have quite good intuition. Let me introduce myself, I am Hinata, and I am indeed your new caretaker" as she turned to face him now completely.

'Not blushing eh? Let's see' Suigetsu inwardly grinned as he thought out his next line to either send her away squealing or twitching with irk "Suigetsu, Hinata-chan, just call me Suigetsu. In fact, you can call me anything you like" as he sent out a flirtatious smile and wink.

Raising a delicate eyebrow was all that changed on Hinata's passive face. Taking a sip of the water, she let it soothe her throat before speaking "Suigetsu-san, I have been ordered to be your care-taker until the Hokage herself has dismissed my service. In this period whereby I will be watching over you, you shall be expected to not wander off on your own or leave the premises without supervision of appointed people. I will expect your full co-operation yes? I will not ask of anything that is unreasonable from you, nor will you treat my service as of more than a mere guard. Is that understandable?" she asked.

Suigetsu sulked slightly at the fact that his attempts on the girl had just been completely ignored. Deciding that she was not one to blush easily, he tried for the other option "What? Who do you think you are? Pfft, you barely look strong enough to protect yourself and you want to be my guard? Dream on lady, just because you've got the looks doesn't mean I'm going to let you drag me around like a dog. I didn't know that the Hokage could actually think to appoint someone as weak as-"

"I see that you have misinterpreted my words" the glare she fixed on him sent a cold shiver down his spine "I WILL be your care-taker until the Hokage defers. You WILL co-operate while under my care and WILL NOT leave this hospital or village unless you are with company of appointed shinobis. If I find you anywhere outside the perimeters of the village without my or the Hokage's knowing of you leaving beforehand, I WILL drag you back to Konaha and personally rip you to pieces" the cup of water in her hand over-boiled from the fire that enlightened on her finger tips and shattered, sending the broken pieces of glass scattering all over the floor. " Is THAT understood, Suigetsu-san, or do I need to repeat it again?"

Suigetsu gulped and quickly nodded his head frantically, making a mental note to himself for the future 'never EVER choose the other option'.

Pleased at his acceptance to the matter, the corner of her lips twitched up abit before she compossed herself "Alright, the records here say that you have recovered from your more major injuries and is now free to go. So.." she glanced up at him before turning around to inspect the room "I guess you'll be living with me for the time being then, pack your bags and meet me outside when you're done" she offered him a small smile before walking out of the room.

Momentarily stunned from her sudden change in treatment towards him, he sat stunned for a few minutes before catching himself and started packing his small amount of belongings. After double checking that he had not left anything behind, he headed toward the door to meet his new 'Guardian' he almost snickered at the nickname before he remembered that scene that was played out barely a few minutes ago in the room. Now that he thought abut it, he have not seen his sword anywhere, but of course, he don't expect them leaving it hanging around.

As he exited the room and stepped out to the hallway, he didn't see Hinata there. Turning left and right, he finally spotted her leaning against the wall a few metres away and started his way towards her. Sensing him approaching her "That was faster than I've expected, and if you're wondering were your sword is, it's currently kept by the weapons department until you're deemed trustable", answering the question that had been in his mind a few minutes ago. He was about to ask her how she knew when they heard a commotion going on in one of the rooms down the hallway, then suddenly, the door slammed open to reveal an enraged Uchiha.

"LET ME GO!" he growled before nearly attacking one of the medics that had been trying to restrain him. He was about to break free when a pink blob of hair appeared behind him and pinned him to the wall with his hands behind his back. Even with her super strength, Sakura could hardly refrain Sasuke's movement altogether "I said LET ME GO!" he snarled and tossed about viciously. "Stop stop please Sasuke-kun, we are trying to heal you" Sakura pleaded, tears obviously rapidly about to flow down.

"Let me go you useless Bitch before I kill you!" he snapped menacingly. Overwhelmed by shock and hurt, Sakura's grip on him loosened and Sasuke managed to break free from her death-hold. He whirled around and was about to attack everyone when a kick to his side sent him flying to the wall, a crater on the wall was created from the impact. Before he had time to recover from the attack, he was roughly grabbed by the collar and slammed to the wall.

"S-Sasuke-kun. Please P-please don't hurt him Hinata, he doesn't mean it. He's still injured and i-it's my fault, I-" Sakura tried her best not to stutter.

Hinata didn't acknowledge her words, her focus still on the male she had on choke-hold "What the hell are you trying to prove Uchiha?" her voice darkly low, her ice cold gaze piercing his own obsidian.

"What's it to you Hyuuga?"

Her white pale eyes hardened at his answer, her grip on his collar tightened, causing him to choke abit "Don't fool around Uchiha, Sakura here may care about your wounds re-opening and you getting yourself injured but don't mistake me for someone who gives a fuck about your well-being" her eyes narrowing "I don't know if you mean what you have said earlier but know this, if you ever intentionally try to cause harm to any of my friends, I will not hesitate to kill you" before she released him completely. Glancing at her friend, Sasuke noticed her eyes soften immediately "Sorry to have you heal back the injuries I've caused Sakura, if you need any help let me know, I'll be glad to help when I'm off duty" she offered a small smile.

Then turning back to Sasuke, she reached out to her back pocket before presenting a scroll "Oh yes, regarding the cause of your formal distress Uchiha, here's your answer. Maybe it'll help ease your concerns and stop how you're acting like such an asshole" and she tossed it to Sasuke who caught it easily. Facing Suigetsu now and regarding him for a moment before walking off "Come Suigetsu-san, I'm sure you would prefer not to carry the heavy load around"

Sasuke almost quirked a brow as his companion briefly grinned at him before sprinting off after the girl.

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Hehh, so there you go chapter 2. I apologize if any of the characters is off (except hinata), I'm still trying to grasp their personalities right.

So...once again, do let me know if you have enjoyed this chapter by reviewing/fav-ing/following!

Love ya~! Buaii ;P

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.

KemeYeoz,


	3. Sparrings and Matches

Free Fall 3

AN: Hiya I'm back :)

Once again, I'm going to say the same thing that I have said in the previous chapter

Guyssssss.. I need to know how you feel about the story yeah?

It's really quite disappointing when I receive none at all D':

So.. again, Fav/Follow/Rev okae?! :D

So on we go! Chapter 3 drum roll

* * *

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One word was all that came to his mind when he first stepped into the apartment 'wow', his violet eyes shimmered at the sight of the well-furnished place 'this really looks like its fit for royalty', his eyes flickered towards the female 'I wonder if she is some sort of royalty..after all, the people of this town seem to respect her'. He thought back to when they were making their way through the village, people who noticed them seemed extremely happy to see her, nodding in acknowledgement or openly greeting out loud.

He snapped back from his thoughts when he felt a touch on his left shoulder "Suigetsu-san..? " Hinata stood infront of him, her eyebrows furrowed slightly in worry or confusion "something wrong?". Now his own eyebrows shot up in disbelief 'Something wrong?..Something wrong?! this is pure heaven! You have gotta be kidding me. You must be joking me..You...oh you're serious' he realized she wasn't kidding at all when he finally noticed her unchanging expression. Inwardly sighing at the seemingly socially awkward female, he found himself doing something he has never done before "Nothing is wrong Hinata-san, everything is perfect" assuring someone.

She scrunched her face slightly, even more confused than ever before turning passive and nodding, Suigetsu wondered briefly if she knows how adorable she looked at that moment. 'Such an odd girl' he noted, thinking back as how abruptly her character changes over such a short period of time 'one moment she's scary as hell, another she's calm and collected, then now she's like an innocent little girl. I wonder which one she truly is' he frowned at the thought of his temporary flatmate having a screw-loose and murdering him in the middle of the night. Shivering at the demonic image of Hinata wielding a scythe and swinging it around crazily, he shook his head vigorously 'I have to make sure not to trigger anything that might possibly be triggered'. Following the blue-haired female down the hallway, they stopped infront of the second door in row. She glanced at him before twisting the knob and pushing the door open.

The room had all the necessary items and possibly more; alarm clock on the nightstand, multi-leveled cupboards, heck even a study table. The room looked extremely clean and well-kept, 'doesn't seem like it's used often', he shrugged before placing his things down beside the bed. Noticing that Hinata was still silent, he decided to make a small conversation "Erm.. Nice room you've got here, designed it yourself?" he felt proud of himself for coming up with a moderately safe topic.

She shook her head once "Well no, " she noticed that he kept quiet and attentive, waiting for her to say more "Sakura-chan and Ino-chan helped designed the entire apartment, the only room that I personally made arrangements for was my own room. The little items personal items you see in this room belong to some of my friends that have stayed over for the night"

He nodded "So..you live alone here?" he counted mentally all the rooms he had seen, there was the living room, the kitchen, the hallway had four doors including his own, so he assumed one was the bathroom "Kinda big for just one person isn't it?".

"Neji-nii-san visits me often during his free time, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, Kiba-kun and Shino-kun sometimes stay over the night too" she smiled slightly at the fond mentions of her friends.

Noticing her smile, seeing as to she was slightly warming up to him, he decided to take it one small step further "So anyways..why are you chosen to be my caretaker?". She stared at him for a few seconds, trying to determine if there was any that she will be revealing if she answered his questions, deciding whether he was trying to be nice or there was any hidden motive in his questions. Noticing her observing eye on him, he understood her suspicions "I'm not trying anything bad, just don't think it's going to be good for either of us to be uncomfortable around each other. I mean, we will most probably be stuck together for awhile, so why not make it as bearably as we can?" he was surprised that he managed to come up with such a reasonable explanation.

Not to say that he was going to try anything, he didn't want to take on the whole army of Leaf shinobis, thank you very much. He just decided that he might as well learn something about the person whom he was going to have to follow around for an indefinite amount of time, and if he was being frank with himself, this peculiar female had him quite curious and interested. Seeing as she was still skeptical about the question, he changed the topic "Okay, you don't need to say whatever you don't want to" he raised both of his hands as a sign of giving in "how about we share some facts about each other?" he grinned mischievously "I'll start first then "My name is Hozuki Suigetsu, I'm from the Hozuki clan of Kirigakure".

Hinata bit her lower lip "My name is Hinata, ex-Hyuuga clan of Konohagakure". Suigetsu was slightly taken aback by the 'ex-Hyuuga' she had said 'Ex-hyuuga? Does that mean she got kicked out? or did she leave on her own?' Suigetsu have heard of the Hyuuga clan, the clan whom inherited one of the San Daidojutsu, he also knew that the only ones whom did not get branded the curse seal were the Main branch..so did that mean.. "Ahh Hinata-san, when you say ex-hyuuga.."

Hinata's eyes visibly dimmed at that mention "I used to be the Hyuuga Heiress, that's why I don't have the Branch seal, my sister replaced me as Heiress". She didn't understand why she was sharing something of such with something she had just met, though it wasn't something that was much of a secret anyways. He seemed genuine in his curiosity and she couldn't sense any ulterior motive. She briefly wondered what made him join Sasuke's team..then again, shinobis weren't meant to lead peaceful lives, rogue ninjas could have just been out to search for power.

Suigetsu scratched his head, trying to make sense of what she told him, he didn't understand how someone like Hinata would get removed from position.. she seemed to be strong, strong enough to be his guard and knock someone like Sasuke into the wall.. so why? 'or did she willingly give it up?' he frowned.

Hinata looked at the clock on the wall before heading off towards her own room "Suigetsu-san, we will be leaving in thirty minutes time, if you want to freshen up, the bathroom is the door just beside yours". 'I should probably freshen up too' Hinata frowned slightly before heading off to her private bathroom that was connected to her room.

* * *

"Come on Teme! It's been such a long time since we've seen each other, shouldn't you be more excited?" the Blond next-in-line to be Hokage shouted gleefully before doing a little dance. The pink-haired shinobi watched from the corner of the room as the previous two teammates of hers converse among themselves, well more like one was shouting and the other was being a perfect wall. Sasuke crossed his arms infront of his chest "If you haven't realized Dobe, I'm not here willingly" he shook his bandages and chakra restrainer around, tugging forcefully before sighing and giving up.

"Ahh it doesn't matter Teme, as long as you're here then it's fine. Dattebayo! Told you I will bring you back!" he sniggered before doing a 'thumbs-up' at Sasuke. Raising a delicate eyebrow, Sasuke wondered if Naruto was any of the Anbu that fought him last night..maybe he was Skull? "Dobe, if I remember clearly, which I'm sure I did, you had nothing to do with my current being of in this town" he gave his signature smirk(you know the one that melted the hearts of millions of babes~). Naruto sulked for a moment before his usual grin came on "Of course I did Teme", Sasuke's eyes widened at this "though I was on another mission in Suna, I was the one who convinced Baa-san to send out people to get you back! Though it would have been so much faster if I did it by myself, Dattebayo!" Naruto grinned even wider.

'So it's not him' Sasuke frowned, he knew the idiot wasn't one who would lie and even if the Baka tried to, lying was what Naruto was unable to do even if he bet his life on it. Deciding not to dwell on the matter too much, he refocused on the babbling idiot infront of him who hadn't realized that no one was listening 'some things never change'.

"Oh yes! Speaking of Ramen, let's go get some now! The hospital food must not taste so good eh? All bland and- OW!" Naruto winced as Sakura punched him. Even though the punch wasn't enhanced with chakra, it still hurt like crap. Ignoring Naruto's whining completely, she spoke "Naruto keep quiet for awhile won't you, we are in the hospital now, not the streets..although..I am kind of hungry" she admitted shyly.

"See? That's the spirit Sakura-chan, let's go to Old Man Ichiraku's for Ramen now!" he said before doing another dance. Sighing, Sakura walked up to Sasuke's bedside "Come on, you know the only way to get him to shut up is if we do what he wants". Sasuke was about to comment about how it was none of his business before Sakura undid the Chakra Restrains from his hands. Raising an eyebrow, he looked towards Sakura, "what? don't look at me like that, you're not supposed to be a prisoner anyways, just under supervision", Sakura frowned at his assumption.

Naruto just smirked at this, putting his hands behind his head "Anyways Teme, even if you do try to escape, we'll just drag you all the way back yeah?" he chuckled before winking. Sasuke knew Naruto would do whatever he promised, he himself had been someone to be involved in such bond-to-word situations. Feeling a headache coming up, he pinched the bridge of his nose before getting up to change "where are my clothes?" he looked down at the ugly hospital gown he was dressed in 'who changed me?' he twitched at the thought of someone touching him unnecessarily.

* * *

"Hinata-chan!" a familiar voice came from behind them before Hinata got attacked by a white mass of fur "down Akamaru, don't keep Hinata all to yourself yeah?" Kiba chuckled before tackling her down with a firm embrace of his own. "Kiba-kun!" Hinata giggled before hugging her long-time friend back. Then another quiet voice sounded as a new presence joined the three "The one who is hogging her is you, why? because-" Shino was cut off as Hinata pulled him in to the hug. Shino tensed slightly before relaxing, placing one of his hand on her head and patting lightly, a small smile crept up to his lips, covered up by his high collared shirt.

Kiba then noticing the odd person standing there looking at them while standing in a spot awkwardly, pointing a finger at Suigetsu he asked "who's he Hinata?". Hinata turned to see who he was pointing at then smiled again "He's my current mission Kiba-kun, Tsunade-sama asked me to guard him until he's proven to be not of a threat to Konoha. He's Uchiha-san's companion, and is currently staying with me for the time being".

Kiba growled slightly at this and walked towards Suigetsu "Oh, I remember you.. you're the one who can turn into water eyh? You better not try anything funny on Hinata or I'll tear you apart and feed you to Akamaru, got it?" he glared menacingly at Suigetsu who stared back "Tear me apart? I'll be the one who rips your guts out, wanna have a go dog boy?" he grinned almost manically at the thought of slashing and tearing out limbs. They both stepped up challengingly, the air around them growing tense..well until a hand came firm in between them, pushing them apart "stop". Hinata now standing in between the two, one hand comfortingly on Kiba and the other warningly infront of Suigetsu.

"Ahh! Hinata-chan, Kiba, Shino! All of you are here? wow what a wonderful gathering this is! Dattebayo!" Naruto suddenly barged in, slinging one arm around Hinata and the other around Kiba. "Tch, don't just put your arm around us like that Baka!" Kiba sulked jokingly before nudging Naruto in the stomach.

"Naruto! Baka, I told you to wait for us, don't just go running around like-" Sakura glanced up to see their company "Oh ohaiyo Hinata-chan, Kiba-san, Shino-san!" then she turned to see face the odd person clad in violet, tilting her head to the side. Sasuke slowly trod over, hands stuffed in his pocket, bored expression on his face "Suigetsu, what are you doing here?".

Suigetsu turned to face the raven-haired male "Hinata-chan here" purposely emphasizing on the suffix "Is my care-taker, and I have orders to not leave her side". Sasuke raised a brow at his 'friend's' change in demeanor and sudden familiarity with the female, then smirked when he realized that Suigetsu was only trying to piss people off.

"All right all right, enough with the chit-chat, I'm hungry so let's go get some Ramen!" Naruto did a thumbs-up before dragging and pushing everyone into the small Ramen stall. Seeing as how the shop wasn't big enough of a space for them to choose their preferred seats, they made do with whatever they could and sat at the seat nearest to them. It went with this strange yet somewhat satisfying arrangement; Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Suigetsu, Kiba and Shino.

"Oh man, I wanted to sit next to Hinata" Kina sulked at pouted like a child. Giggling at his cute expression, Hinata soothed her teammate "Ano, it's okay Kiba-kun, we will have lots of other chances to sit beside each other neh?" she smiled gently, causing Kiba to blush slightly and Suigetsu to smirk. Sasuke was somewhat bewildered at Hinata's kind manner, 'is she the same person who made a hole in the hospital wall?'. While their meals arrived and some chatted happily, Hinata had ignored Sasuke's presence completely, not that he minded it one bit.

"Oi Hinata-chan, Baa-chan was saying that-" Naruto suddenly shouted out loud even though she was only a seat away, noodles hanging visibly from his mouth. Sakura smacked him "Shannaro! Don't talk with your mouth full of food Naruto, it's so gross!". "Yeah!, and don't shout at Hinata like that, you loud mouth twerp!" he shouted back at Naruto.

.

.

"Wow that escalated really quickly" Suigetsu murmured out as he sat beneath the shady tree, watching the blond and brunette male making snark remarks at each other before smirking and heading off to the opposite sides of the sparring area. The others stood by the side of the court, three seemingly discussing something while Sasuke stared boredly off to a faraway place. Neji, Lee( I don't care if he's dead, he's forever alive to me! T^T) and TenTen had met and joined their little gathering along the way after hearing that a little sparring was to be held.

Naruto shouted back to the group "So how are we doing this? One to one? Rules?", Sakura and Hinata shared a look before nodding, "Last man standing, first to hit the ground loses. Usual rules" Sakura stated and the others walked off to the side. Naruto and Kiba, if it was even possible, grinned even wider at the last park. Hinata found her spot at a branch above Suigetsu's place and the others walked towards them. "So.. who's going first?.." Tenten asked as she looked to the other seven who was finding a place to watch the fight. As usual, the over-enthusiastic Lee was the first to respond "Me! I would love to challenge either Naruto-kun or Kiba-kun, OH the youthful match that shall-" his speech was cut off by a weary Tenten "Okay okay, so who's second?".

Sakura looked around at her friends before speaking up "Guess I'll be second then". Nodding, "I'll follow up as the third, and since you guys aren't about to volunteering yourselves.." Tenten trailed off "Neji shall go as fourth, Hinata as fifth and last but not least Shino. Everyone fine with that?" she asked for confirmation.

"Ano Tenten, maybe it's better if we let Shino sit this one out, he has injuries still from his previous mission and I think the movements might cause his injuries to open up" Sakura frowned, knowing his injuries as she herself had been his attended medic. Shino kept silent before nodding in consent, he knew his own limits after all.

With all the attention back to the two guys who were surprisingly waiting patiently, Sakura gave the go "Match.. 3,2,1..START!". Before anyone had even took another breath, the two charged impulsively towards each other, spinning and sending full-powered kicks and punches, aimed with no intention to hurt, but accurate enough to injure. Naruto slid back slightly after receiving a kick to his stomach and took advantage of the distance, making his signature hand signs "_Kage Bunshin-no-Justsu_!" and created three shadow clones. "Chaaaaaaarge!" he shouted before all four Naruto dashed towards Kiba. Avoiding each Naruto with ease, Kiba quickly dispelled the clones before confronting the last one "you're going to need more than that to beat me" he huffed, before increasing his attacks.

"Alright then, let's see how you handle this!" Naruto smirked wider before making the hand signs again "_Kage-bunshin-no Justu_!" and three hundred Narutos' appeared, filling the entire area. With one quick signal, all the clones charged towards Kiba. Perspiring like crazy, Kiba dodged each and every single one of the clones, hitting them and shoving. Spotting a blind area in Kiba's defense, Naruto seized the opportunity and sent a full blown kick towards it, only to be intercepted by a white blur. 'Poof!' the clone disappeared into a grey fluff of dust.

"Aww damn it! I knew something was up" some of the Narutos' that were left groaned before disappearing too as Akamaru clawed through them with his razor sharp claws. Kiba smirked "Akamaru, let's go! _Gijū Ninpō: Jūjin Bunshin" _and the white puff of smoke revealed two crouching Kibas' that were snarling menacingly. Not waiting for any reaction, both Kibas' charged towards Naruto at blinding speed and attacked from both sides. Not knowing where to look, Naruto realised too late as Kiba sent an upper cut, followed by a swift kick to his groin. Landing a few metres away, Akamaru and Kiba prepared for their next attack "Gatenga!" rolling at a ferocious speed in a buzz-saw like shape towards Naruto, a few hits managed to make contact, causing much damage.

All three of them stood apart, breaths heavy and perspiring madly, Naruto covered in bruises. "All right, my turn!" Naruto huffed out and made a thousand shadow clones "Didn't think I'd go down so easily did ya?" Naruto smirked and leaped up with all of his shadow clones "Shihōhappō Shuriken!" and Kiba's eyes widened when a barrage of shurikens came flying down at top speed towards them. Dodging to the best that he could, he was so focused on the shurikens that he failed to avoid Naruto's incoming attack at his rear "_Uzumaki Naruto Nisen Rendan!_" as he shot up to the sky "U-ZU-MA-KI!" and dealt the three final blows.

Kiba crumpled to the ground totally exhausted, his body covered in tons of light bruises. Chuckling slightly before giving a thumbs-up to Naruto, he yelled as loud as he could "Change!" and slumped his head back to the ground. Lee skipped happily to the battle grounds, making his usual pose and flashing his signature 'teeth-bling' image before charging at Naruto. Seeing that things was about to get rough and knowing that her teammate was unable to move, Hinata quickly moved. Before anyone had noticed, she disappeared from sight, only to reappear with Kiba on her shoulders. 'Woah what the hell?!' Suigetsu nearly shuddered when he realized that dog-boy had suddenly 'pop' and 'teleported' to his side.

The match was closed to an end when Naruto went into his tailed-beast-mode to match Lee's speed. Using mini-shuriken-rasengan as a distraction, Naruto cleverly used it to his advantage and pinned Lee to the ground. The match hadn't lasted that long and Lee wasn't injured much, so he was still extremely energetic "That was such a Youthful sparring session! Yosh!" Lee gave a cheshire smile before limping away "Change!"

Sakura zipped in with a flash of pink.

Sakura had won the match with Naruto with her quick wits and the advantage of Naruto's one moment of mistake. She knew how he fought and though it was extremely tough because of his rapid recovery rate, massive amount of chakra and unpredictable moves, Sakura attacked endlessly and tripped Naruto, effectively ending the fight "Awwr no fair Sakura-chan! That was just one time and.." Naruto trailed off and pouted before plopping down between Sasuke and Neji. The Hyuuga genius smirked at the Kyuubi vessel, shaking his head and sighing "you never learn Naruto".

"Changing in!" Tenten gave warning before engaging in battle with Sakura. Sakura held a long battle with TenTen, her excellent Chakra control was a huge challenge for Tenten, but Tenten finally emerged as winner when she surprised Sakura with the undetected hidden explosive tags on her hundreds of Kunai after her _Sōshōryū._ Coughing slightly before spitting out some blood, Sakura gave the sign "Change!" before she wobbled out of the 'arena'. Hinata appeared by her side, lifting Sakura up and flashed away from the area "Eep!" Sakura squealed the slightest when she felt herself being lifted.

'Woah! What?' Suigetsu startled when Sakura 'pop-ed' up beside him, he nearly felt his heart leap out this time and sighed, glancing at Hinata 'she really needs to stop doing that' he frowned before refocusing back to the fight. Sasuke watched with an impassive expression but his thoughts were far off from that, looking at Kiba, Lee, Sakura and Naruto from the corner of his eye, he nearly smirked when he watched them all battle it out 'they've really improved a lot', then his sight trailed over to the blunette that was sitting beside the bug-user 'I wonder...'.

"Kuso!" Tenten yelled as she watched wide-eye as her own weapons, that had been reflected by Neji's _Hakkeshō Kaiten_, flying towards her. Grabbing two spare Kunai she had kept in her pouch, she quickly defected the oncoming assortment of weapons. A few senbon that were too small and too fast to deflect sunk into her arm that she had used to shield her face. Neji charged towards her, closed off the tenketsu on her left arm and sent a kick to her stomach. Knowing that she was at great disadvantage, Tenten quickly rolled out of the way from Neji's next attack and yelled "Change!".

Hinata leaped off from the branch she was standing on and stood a few meters away from Neji, bowing slightly in respect "Neji-nii-san". Neji smiled a minuscular bit before bowing "Hinata-sama" and moving into the famous Hyuuga stance. To everyone's surprise, Neji took the first move to attack, his footsteps as light as ever, his movements a flow with rhythmic patterns. Hinata kept her eyes focused on her opponent, her whole exterior had changed to a stoic and professional one. Finally getting into her own stance, she braced herself for Neji's attack, his Byakugan already activated. Then, she gracefully swirled and dodged just as Neji's open palm swung towards her. Careful not to get near his hands, she defended herself with blocking of his wrists with her own. Swing, dodge, block, dodge was all Hinata was doing, never the one attacking. their hands and legs moving at an extremely fast pace, was at a speed that would appear invisible to un-well trained eyes.

Neji studied closely to Hinata's every movement, observing closely for any weak spot that could be used 'There!' he acted fast and proceeded to perform _Hakke Rokujūyon Shō,_ slamming his palms towards Hinata's chest area and successfully making contact "two strikes" he called out and was about to close off her tenketsu until he realised how horribly wrong he was in making that move. Standing face-to-face, Hinata's arms were stretched out holding his shoulder and with one sharp twist she forced his hands to twist facing opposites sides. Then, he felt AND saw it, as she took one big step back with his arms still in her hands, she slid it downwards, closing each and every one of his chakra points her hands passed through. Realizing the danger he was in, he quickly bent his elbow before she could go any further and pulled back fiercely away from her.

His arms left slightly numb from all the closed tenketsu, he forced himself to unblock a few vital ones, the strain on his chakra path extremely painful. Hinata took a step back before making an extremely familiar continuation of signs, Neji's eyes widened slightly before taking a few steps back, preparing himself.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched her make the hand signs, Sakura tilted her head to the side in slight confusion while Kiba openly expressed his shock "Eh? isn't that?.." Naruto piped in "Kage-bunshin-no-jutsu!" he grinned widely at Hinata's usage of one of his signature moves.

Neji braced himself and tensed slightly when all three copies of Hinata charged towards him with incredible speed, and just as they were about to strike him down, he released his ultimate defense and attack taijutsu move "_Hakkeshō Kaiten_", releasing the chakra from his unclogged tenketsu and spinning. The force of the chakra caused Hinata to shoot back out, the clones disappearing after each flew backwards and landed harshly on the ground. Stopping finally, he breathed out heavily as a drop of sweat trickled down his forehead. His breath hitched at that moment as he felt the cold surface of metal against his neck and the next thing he knew, he was slammed down to ground, though not quite forcefully. 'What? when did she?..' to say Neji was stumped would be an underestimation compared to the amount of confusion and shock he was feeling.

After a short moment of silence, applause erupted followed by cheers. "Wow Hinata-chan, how did you do that? I mean...that was so Youthful!" Lee gave two thumbs-up as his eyes glowed with wonder and admiration. "Yeah! that was really impressive Hinata, stepping back at the last moment" Kiba whistled, or tried to, considering how dry his throat was at the moment. Hinata smiled slightly before looking down back at Neji "It was nothing much really, I was just lucky to go last. It's not really fair after all, you guys all had to fight more than one opponent" she replied modestly. Neji smirked slightly at his cousin's words. Suigetsu looked passively at the group before making his decision, stepping towards the 'Arena', he cleared his throat for attention before stating "Change,".

The group stared at him incredulously before knitting their eyebrows together in confusion. Suigetsu sighed before repeating himself "Changeeee" he dragged it on purpose. Hinata stared at him for a moment before walking up to the opposite side. "Wait Hinata-chan, you really want to fight this guy? You don't have to you know?" Sakura was especially worried for Hinata's welfare, the others nodded in agreement. Hinata smiled reassuringly towards them "It'll be fine" she said before facing Suigetsu. Hinata grabbed a scroll from the back of her pouch, tossing it open in mid air and made a few hand signs, biting her thumb, she smeared a thin line of blood across it. Now in her hands, she swirled a sword the height of her body and tossed it to him, catching it with ease, he found that the sword was lighter than he thought it to be "It's not the same, but the sword had adaptable abilities. It reacts efficiently when your chakra is applied".

Sasuke watched closely as the two prepared themselves for the signal to start 'this might be interesting' he smirked inwardly and wondered briefly about how Hinata was going to fight against Suigetsu, seeing as her usage with Byakugan was rendered almost completely useless. Sakura shared a worried look with the group before sighing and raising her hand "Ready?...Go!" and Suigetsu charged towards Hinata.

Swinging wildly but with perfect precision, Suigetsu swiped down at Hinata ferociously, making her dodge and giving her no chance to attack. He thought about how maybe he was going to win this quickly, after all Byakugan users' attacks proved useless against his body. Hinata ducked low as the sword came slashing at where her head was a moment ago, her hand went quickly as she applied chakra out from her finger tips and tapped Suigetsu on his arm, but nothing happened. Suigetsu chuckled when he realized what she had tried to do and shook his head 'that won't work girly' as she slid a few spaces away from him. Acting her Byakugan, she studied the chakra lines on his body 'something's not right' her eyes narrowed as she looked at the odd flow of his Chakra paths.

'So what are you going to do now eh?' he felt myself grin wider as he watched her study him from afar. Deciding not to give her the advantage, he shot towards her, sword held in steady grip behind her. As he slashed towards her, his sword met contact with another metal surface, releasing a high pitched 'clang' due to the force. Now in her hands was a normal-sized katana, she spun it around swiftly, blocking each of his attacks with her own swing. Gaining momentum, she swung rapidly now, parrying his attacks and blocking some. Then, Suigetsu suddenly spun and crouched, aiming his sword at her legs. Hinata leaped just in time and swooped down towards his shoulder. Instead of meeting contact, there was a swishing sound before his body split where the blade should have made contact with, _Suika no Jutsu_. Her eyes widened slightly in shock before she regained her composure and leapt back, narrowly dodging the sword that would have cut her head clean off her shoulders.

Taking this moment to prove her suspicions, she made a sequence of hand signs "_Suiton_: _Mizu Hari" _and a hundred of water needles shot towards him. Suigetsu smirked at this and let the water needles make contact with his body, absorbing the water jutsu with ease. Hinata blinked at this before the corner of her lips twitched. Grabbing a scroll from her back pocket, she tossed the whole length of scroll towards Suigetsu, it ending a little away from his feet. Making another sequence of hand signs, she slid her hands down the blade, causing it to sparkle up with fierce blue lightning. Then she sped towards Suigetsu, with the sword in one hand, she bit her thumb and smeared the blood on the scroll, releasing huge waves of water to the ground. Knowing that if the blade touches him at the slightest would cause him to suffer a much unwanted electrocution, he tensed and watched her move cautiously.

Dodging carefully each and every one one of her swings, he took a few steps back before a wet splash came to his ankles. Hinata then disappeared from his sight and he turned around to realize that he had stepped right into the middle of the huge puddle of water she had made earlier. "_Hōryū Raika no Jutsu!" _he heard and turned just in time to see her palm come in contact with the water, his eyes widening in each fraction of a second as he watched the blue streaks of lighting headed his way. "Oh..fuck" was all he could say before he felt the current strike through painfully in his body.

.

Sasuke was impressed, he admitted to himself..no Sasuke was _very_ impressed. Hinata was one of the fastest ninja he had ever met other than Lee and Gai, she had near- perfected skills in the art of wielding a katana, she had thought of and pulled off a very well-layed out strategy within such limited time, and she had exceedingly vast knowledge in Jutsus..'what the hell did she do for the past few years?' Sasuke questioned bewilderedly. He remembered how hard of a training he had to go through to match up to his brother's level, and the only reason he endured was to sought out revenge. He glanced at the blunette, remembering from small figments of his memory that she was an extremely shy and quiet girl, then he compared the past mental image of her with the present one infront of him..'what happened to her?' he wondered.


	4. Sweet Dreams, Intrusions

**Free Fall 4**

**Author's Note:**

Hiya everyone ^^!

Sorry it took much longer this time for the update,

I've been really busy recently with studies and all.

Don't worry though! No matter what, I'll never give this story up :D

this chapter will be a short one though, I just hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless.

So LET'S GO!

* * *

Five days has passed since the staying of Suigetsu in Hinata's house, and the two were seemingly getting along. Well, considering how Hinata was rarely one who lost her patience and Suigetsu knowing when to shut his mouth, it was not at all surprising. Although there was a few awkward moments of silence between the two, most times were passed quite easily. Strangely enough, although the Hozuki lad was a blood-lust driven and quite sadistic lad, he knew well enough to control himself in Konoha territory, also to make sure he didn't anger his 'care-taker'. After staying with her for the few days, Suigetsu had learnt quite a few things about her from observation. 'Hinata ex-Hyuuga' Suigetsu mused, was perhaps more than she led on to be.

After observing her facial expression and body language in different situations, he understood that Hinata was not one who liked standing out. She usually kept to herself and hardly spoke unless spoken to. When she had fiercely attacked Sasuke in the hospital that day, he was nowhere near state of sane at the thought of being watched after by a lunatic with drastic mood-swings. Then he realized that there was a certain pattern to her obvious emotions and manner. When he had to tag along whenever she went out to meet her friends, it seemed like her whole cold demeanor had melted completely, changing from the near ice-cube character to a slightly warmer personnel. Her friends too, always seemed to be extremely protective of her, not forgetting her cousin who had more than threatened him, turning from the perfect stone statue to the incarnate of devil himself.

Staying in the same house as her meant that even if he tried to avoid her, it would have been almost impossible. She had given him no reason to avoid her though, even with him being a previous missing-nin and all, she had never once more showed any hostility towards him. Suigetsu had woken up on the second day to the mouth-watering sight of bacon and eggs, along with a tall glass of orange juice. He had suspicions of it being poisoned at first, but of course, he is still here and perfectly fine ain't he? Most of the time, Hinata was indifferent to him, but there was the slightest moments when she showed kindness to him. It was as if she was unsure of how to treat him, like struggling between her kindness and her shinobi status.

So Suigetsu had decided, that even if he weren't voluntarily here in the first place, he might as well try making it easier for her anyways. After all she didn't seem like a bad person.

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The four stood in the Hokage's office, standing infront of the Godaime herself as she lazily eyed them, the sake cup in her hands as she spun it, swirling the contents before taking small deliberate sips "as you know, Sasuke-brat here has been staying with Kakashi for the past few days, however, Kakashi is currently in Suna for a mission and will only return after about two days..so we need a new baby-sitter for the brat." Suigetsu snickered obviously at the insult to the stoic onyx-eyed male. Sasuke glared at Tsunade before shifting his intense focus on Suigetsu, who remained unaffected by it "So, I know you already have one brat on your hands and it's going to be troublesome to take another under your care, however I have no choice for now. So Hinata, Sasuke will have to follow you around until Kakashi comes back okay? Sakura will usually be busy at the hospital but there has not been much serious activities going on so you can always ask for any needed assistance from her if needed". Hinata nodded wordlessly, Tsunade smiled slightly in gratitude before turning to Sasuke "Brat, you are not to leave her side until Kakashi returns or when Naruto or Sakura is with you, understood?".

Sasuke inwardly growled at being spoken to and treated like a kid but decided not to show any outward emotion "hn" he grunted after a few seconds of silence. Tsunade then shifted to look at Suigetsu who was leaning against the wall "I suppose you won't be causing any trouble correct? Unless you want me to assign you to someone else? Perhaps Neji Hyuuga would make you feel more welcomed?" her eyes glinting with amusement.

Suigetsu nearly shivered at the thought of being near the Hyuuga male, that person was so much like a stone wall, he already had to deal with Sasuke, he wouldn't want to have to deal with another stick-up-the-ass person. "Nope I'm good, I very much prefer Hinata. I'll be on my best behavior" he said before giving one of his shit-eating grin.

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The walk back to Hinata's house was uneventful. With Hinata and Sasuke being the quiet self that they were, and Suigetsu didn't feel like talking either. After showing Sasuke the other empty room to which he will be sleeping in, Hinata went off into her own room to shower.

...

The trees were tall and over-shadowing, their height reaching to as high as seven metres. the branches and leaves clung to the other, canopy providing a well-covered shade. The chirps of birds sounded off from a distance, a light swishing of trees as the wind blew. Closing her eyes, she slowly enjoyed the calmness of the moment, the feeling of serenity and peace. Then, as she focused using her other senses, she heard the light trickle of water. Curious, she followed the source of the sound, the gush getting heavier with each step she took. She reached the clearing where no trees habited and a long stream of river flowing through it. Walking near the river, she peered down at the clear liquid, staring at her own reflection. She placed her hand down slowly, enjoying the feel of the cool rush of the waters through her fingers. She was in complete relaxation until suddenly, small swirls of red appeared in the water near her hand. In shock, she retreated her hand and lifted her head, to see the small red trail of red making its way towards her. Within seconds the crimson spread all over, staining each drop of water. The river was now filled with thick red blood and Hinata watched in horror as a body bopped up and floated towards her. Terrified, she tried to move away, only to have her legs grabbed onto by wet and blood-soaked hands.

She gave a shriek in fear and started struggling, trying her best to free herself, only for more hands to start grabbing her and pulling her down the river. A head lifted from amongst the bloody waters.."K-Kiba?!" her eyes went wide as she saw his pale and scarred face glaring venomously at her. He opened his mouth and pointed at her accusingly "why Hinata...why did you let me die?"..

...

Hinata woke up shaking uncontrollably, tears were streaming down her face and her clothes were slightly wet from perspiration. "It was just a dream..just a dream.." she squeezed her eyes together and calmed her heretic breathing. Lying back down, she starred at the white ceiling and was trying to clear her mind, drifting slowly back off to sleep when she felt a intrusion of hidden chakra near the apartment.

Suigetsu was sleeping ever so peacefully in his room when he was suddenly shaken awake by his 'flat-mate', "Suigetsu, we have company" and those four words were enough to get his full attention. Being a missing-nin for so many years, he was fully aware of the dangers of the night. Sleeping was a human nature, be it how strong someone was, sleeping was something a normal person couldn't avoid and that was the time when enemies usually strike.

Sitting up from his position quickly, he came face-to-face with Hinata whose sights were not on him. Trained as a ninja, Hinata immediately went alert and grabbed her weapons when she felt the intrusion of another's presence nearby, seemingly lurking around her flat with ill-intentions. Not wanting to take any chances, she woke Suigetsu up from his slumber to warn him, Sasuke was already wide awake by then. Sharingan activated, red eyes glowed in the darkness, three tomoe spinning rapidly around the pigment.

"How many?" Suigetsu asked as he eyed his surroundings, the darkness lurking in each corner of his room. Without hesitation, Hinata informed him "about six to seven, seemingly chuunin to jounin level", then she tossed a sheathed katana to Suigetsu "You take the front and I'll take the back, Sasuke take the right. Last one goes to whomever finishes first. Ready?". Suigetsu grinned widely "For a fight? Always ready" before chuckling deeply. Noticing the excitement rolling off him, she smirked slightly "Leave the last one alive," before she disappeared from his sight.

Not having to wait long before the intruders made their move, Suigetsu found himself facing two ninjas clad in black. Smirking, he started charging towards them, sword swinging behind him, its blade shining against the moonlight. Hinata stood infront of her two, already engaging in close combat. Sasuke easily dodged the multiple shurikens and kunai, grabbing the last one by it's handle before spinning 360 and shooting the kunai back to its owner. The kunai lodged itself deeply into the body of his attacker, making it a quick kill.

"One down!" Suigetsu nearly chirped, as he faced on his second opponent. Hinata grinned at the indirect challenge from Suigetsu and ended her current opponent, jumping overhead him before slicing him deeply in the neck, cutting off the air supply "One to go" she murmured. Sasuke himself could not resist the thrill of actually competing against the other two, the uncharacteristic and almost childish behaviour of Suigetsu and Hinata made him want to chuckle. Though he tried his best to keep a straight face, a smirk soon grew as he concentrated on ending his second fight.

Coincidentally the three managed to finish at the same time, with Suigetsu beheading his opponent, Sasuke catching his opponent in a suicide genjutsu and Hinata shutting down every organ in her opponent's body. "Two down, one to go" Suigetsu, Sasuke and Hinata all charged towards the last ninja with deadly speed "You're mine".

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"wait wait, so let me get this clear, the man now in the hospital is because you guys need him alive.. correct?" gaining a nod, a grin and a 'hn', Tsunade raised a brow incredulously "so can you please tell me why he is currently in the Intensive Care unit?". Suigetsu chuckled and scratched his chin awkwardly, Hinata accidentally let loose a smile "Well, we went overboard slightly.." and gave a shrug, lips curling slightly wider.

"Slightly?.." Tsunade would have guffawed if the situation wasn't so serious, so she tried her best to keep a straight face as she observed the three mismatched teenagers infront of her. 'They do make a great team though,' she reluctantly admitted and let out a loud sigh, feeling a big headache coming. Putting on her serious tone, she got their attentions back to the more important matters at hand "Luckily for you guys, the injuries were fatal but not enough to kill. When he awakes, we will start putting him through questioning. The seven of them who attacked you..they didn't seem to be of that high of shinobi rank and is most possibly acting under someone else's orders. We'll just have to wait for him to regain consciousness." She looked at the clock on the wall..'hmm, 6.00.a.m..' then she looked back at the trio that were still dressed in their sleeping outfits. Sighing again, she gave them the smallest yet gentlest of smiles (mostly at Hinata though), and stood up "I'll give you fifteen minutes to go clean yourselves up, meet back here no later. Dismissed.".

The other three exchanged glances before leaving through the window. "Couldn't you guys just have left through the door?!" Tsunade's loud voice was heard before she mumbled to herself "kids this days.." The three ran side by side through the forest as they quickly made their way home to prepare. Suigetsu turned to look at Hinata, who was just looking straight, her face and body seemingly relaxed "What do you think she wants?" he asked no one in particular. Hinata turned to face Suigetsu with a thoughtful look, but just shrugged and smirked.

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5 reviews for the next chapter~


	5. Sworn, Mission

**Free Fall: Chapter 5**

Author's Note: Thanks to the few who gave me those awesome reviews! I really appreciate them :D

So as I type this new chapter now, keep in mind that it's all for you (waves hands around dramatically)

HAH, okay no, that makes me sound like some royalty with a pole up their crack hole.

buuuuuuut yeah, I'm pretty sure you get the idea ^^

So on we go! Chapter 5! :D

* * *

Hinata's pale eyes stared unfocused at the bright blue sky and it's white puffy inhabitants 'what a nice day out it is..' she smiled inwardly and sighed, closing her eyes as she let her body sway to the slight breeze. She then peered down as she heard her name being called out "Hinata, we are ready to go" she saw a bob of white drop down before Suigetsu jumped on the roof top to join her. She turned to face him, silently observing him for awhile before turning away "Where is Uchiha-san?".

"Here," a low velvety voice came from behind her as Sasuke jumped up to the roof as well "let's go" he said, and they made their way to the Hokage's tower. Running side by side, they made their way there in moderate speed. Suigetsu smirked slightly as an idea came to him, snickering, he went closer to the other two "Oi, race ya there. Last person to reach has to do a forfeit~" he shouted before dashing ahead full speed. Narrowing his eyes slightly at the disappearing figure of Suigetsu, he grunted before exchanging a look with Hinata "Chh, another Baka" before charging forward as well. Hinata raised an eyebrow at her weird companies before running forward to catch up.

The three were side by side for a moment before Sasuke sped up and took the lead. Suigetsu grinned and chucked his slipper at Sasuke's head, causing the Sharingan user to dodge, falling back slightly, eyes dangerous gleaming red as he glared at Suigetsu. "There aren't any rules remember?" Suigetsu shrugged before running faster to catch up to Hinata who was now leading. She could see the Hokage tower nearing, and looked behind just in time to see Suigetsu speeding towards her with his feet aimed at her head. Ducking low, she slid a distance before turning to run again. Doing a few hand signs, Sasuke raised his hands to his mouth "Katon: Gokakyu no Justu!" he shouted as he shot fire balls at Suigetsu and Hinata. "HAHAHA nice try!" Suigetsu shouted in glee as he swiftly evaded the fire attacks and did an attack of his own "Suiton: Ja no Kuchi!" as a spinning column of water shot towards Sasuke and Hinata.. Hinata leaped up high as the snake-like water form charged at her "Don't destroy any buildings!" she shouted before using a fire release to evaporate the water.

"Tch," Sasuke neatly jumped away from the 'snake' and continued dodging while it chased him. Hinata applied chakra to her feet and sped up towards the Hokage tower. Just as they were about to reach and all of them were preparing their last jutsu and resort..."what do you think you're doing?" a loud booming voice came from below them. 'Kuso..' all three simultaneously thought as the blond busty Hokage stood before them, her arms crossed infront of her chest and her feet tapping against the ground. The three skidded across the floor before coming to a stop infront Tsunade. "I allow you to roam the village brats, not destroy it. Anyways, the three of you have a mission" that earned a reaction from Suigetsu and Sasuke.

* * *

Two weeks ago..

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The three arrived back at the Hokage Tower exactly fifteen minutes after, all changed into proper shinobi outfits and weapon pouch ready at their sides. "Ahh, glad to know that you guys are at least punctual" she nodded her head in approval "well, come on let's get going" she tilted her head as signal for them to follow. Walking pass many odd-looking shops, they finally stopped infront of a cozy tea shop, an elderly lady wrapped in kimono greeted them. "Hokage-sama, what a pleasant surprise, it's been so long since the last time you've visited. Please come in" the lady said as she waved her hand towards a table. Tsunade looked towards the direction "If you don't mind Kyorai-san, I would request for the private room this time".

"Of course Hokage-sama, it's no problem at all" Kyorai bowed before leading them to the upper floor. 'The private room? Tsunade-sama never uses that room unless it's something important..or...' Hinata pondered about the strange change in location.

When the four arrived at the scene, the door behind them closed automatically, and Hinata sensed a strong seal that was placed on all surfaces of the room. "Now sit down, I believe there are some issues we have discuss on" Tsunade said as she turned to face Sasuke and Suigetsu, who was sitting across Hinata and herself. "As you know, ever since your forced return, we have been receiving much displeasure from the council Elder's, most of them questioning as to why you are allowed to live. Luckily for you, when a voting was called, the sides were to your advantage, however.. it was not without conditions. In order for you to be allowed alive, you are to be reinstated as a shinobi of Konoha permanently." then she focused purely on Sasuke, her face stern.

"After you become a Konoha shinobi again, you will only receive missions of low-ranks until you are deemed trustable. After a month, the jounnin exam will take place and you will be required to take part. Shall you ever try to leave again or attack someone without my notice, you will be executed without trial." Tsunade took a moment to sip her warm sake, observing Sasuke's face for any reaction.

Sasuke merely closed his eyes as he thought about the situation he was in, and thoroughly considered all possibilities that would be possible and more advantageous for him. He was of course, quite tired of living life fleeing as a missing-nin, and he was sure Suigetsu would appreciate it if they didn't have to run or hide anymore. No matter how blood-driven the white haired companion of his was, everyone was visibly worn down from so many years of fighting and fleeing. Sighing, he decided to voice out his decision, "It seems like I have not much of a choice in this matter. Either live as a loyal Konoha shinobi or end my life huh. Chh.." as much as he disliked having his life in someone else's hands, he knew when odds were against him "I accept..but I would like to claim back what's rightfully mine. The Uchiha compound and it's inheritance are to be passed down to me, I'm sure that's not too much to ask for".

Tsunade smirked slightly before nodding "Of course, all the Uchiha inheritence has already been prepared and readied for you. It is not for me nor the Council to touch. Now, Hozuki," she turned her attention to him. Suigetsu sat slightly upright as he heard his name being mentioned. "Since you are a companion of Uchiha, you have also been given a chance for this. You are given three options, first is to return to your village and be a shinobi there, second is become a Konoha nin, and third is the death penalty. Your attempted capture and attack on the Raikage's brother has not slipped the attention of all. However, you will be spared and given a choice due to your undeniable efforts in aiding us during the war.." Tsunade's amber eyes glistened as she stared straight into Suigetsu's violet ones "so what will it be, Hozuki?".

Suigetsu narrowed his eyes at the woman before him, it was obvious as to what he would choose. He knew he himself couldn't possibly escape from Konoha, especially since Sasuke had already made his decision. Furthermore, even if he did escape, he didn't have much places left to go to. Gritting his teeth slightly, his eyes hardened as he gave his answer "I'll stay here, and become a shinobi to Konoha. Cheh, it's boring out there anyways" he said with a shrug.

Nodding in approval, Tsunade signalled to Hinata, who had been silent the entire time, to bring forth the scroll. Hinata moved with ease as she produced the scroll from her back pouch and unrolled it on the table. "Smear your name with blood on the scroll as a vow to your words" Hinata instructed and Suigetsu and Sasuke did as told. When they were done, Hinata bit her thumb and spread her blood on her fingers, moving it across the scroll, marking as the witness of the process "done Tsunade-sama", she said as she passed the scroll to Tsunade.

Tsunade chugged down some sake before lifting her bottle "now, let's see...what shall your first mission be?.." an evil glint in her eyes as a sinister smile grew on her face.

* * *

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After that day, Sasuke and Suigetsu were stuck doing the lowest and most irksome missions: Farming, catching that damned cat for the lady, buying groceries for someone who couldn't be bothered to leave their house and many more insignificant ones. The highest ranked mission they had was a C mission and even if so, it was a simple scroll and item retrieval from the other side of Konogakure. To say they were bored to the core was a understatement, not only so, they were pissed. Hinata, being only their caretaker and watcher, was usually sitting on a tree or high wall while 'supervising' them. She went off every once in awhile to complete her missions while Naruto, Sakura or Neji came over to take over from her. Though they didn't really need anyone else around to guard them, the hokage had decided that it made people feel more secure and thus, the arrangements so far.

So they were no doubt surprised when they heard her say that. "Usually I would give these missions to the Anbu, but most of them are already on missions and I need your specific skills for this. This will be a high A-rank mission and it will last for at least three days. Do you accept?"

The three nodded simultaneously "We accept."

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5 Reviews for next chapter.


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